Trust yourself and listen to your body

I think it’s important that people realise that while some of the things that are happening to people as a result of covid are being picked up by tests, some things aren’t. And sometimes, it takes multiple tests to pick up on anything being wrong.

I learned the hard way that when something feels wrong in your body, don’t worry that you are overreacting. Also, don’t just trust the doctors when they tell you that something didn’t pop up on the test. Trust your body.

In July, I started to develop a pain in my leg. Because I had a clot before, it was a familiar pain for me. However, because I had a clot before that ran the full length of my leg, I also still had scarring and sometimes phantom pain. So, at first, I wasn’t sure how serious to take the pain.

But, I also knew enough from the news to know that covid was actually a vascular disease and was causing clots in people. I also knew because of my history, I already was in greater danger of getting a clot.

After a day or two, I noticed that my leg was slightly swollen. That’s when I decided to call my primary care physician. She told me to go to the ER and get an ultrasound.

I told the doctors at the ER that I was fairly certain that I had a clot. I also told them that I felt pressure in my chest. So, they did a blood test, a chest x-ray, an ekg, and an ultrasound.

Afterwards, they told me that they couldn’t find anything wrong and that I didn’t have a clot. They speculated that I might have cellulitis and told me to come back if my leg got worse.

A week later, my leg still hurt. But, it wasn’t worse. So, I had no plans to go back to the ER.

But by then, my chest hurt more. It had moved from pressure to sharp pain. My blood pressure had also temporarily spiked and I was experiencing this strange feeling that felt like palpitations. I almost did nothing about it.

Again, I was unsure of how seriously to take the issue and I didn’t want to have to pay a lot of money and be at the hospital all day just to find out that I had overreacted. So, I hesitated. But ultimately, I decided to go.

So a week after my first visit, I returned to the ER. I told them about my chest pain and that my leg still hurt. They did blood tests, a chest X-ray, a CT scan, an ekg, and an ultrasound.

This time, they told me that my chest was fine but that I had a blood clot in my leg.

I remember feeling angry that I had told them that I was pretty sure I had a blood clot and I believed them when they told me that I didn’t. I also realised that I should have trusted myself when I knew that something was wrong.

I also realised how close I came to not going back to the ER and what a tremendous mistake that would have been.

The ER got me started on blood thinners and connected me with a hemotologist. The hemotologist explained to me that likely, I had a blood clot the first time I was at the ER but it was in one of the smaller veins and the test just didn’t pick up on it until it reached a larger vein.

It still took my family urging me to continue to investigate the chest pain. My father encouraged me to contact our family friend, a renowned cardiologist.

It was approximately two weeks after my last ER visit that I met with him. I told him about my chest pain and that they had run a bunch of tests at the hospital and found nothing, but that I still had pain and after my last experience, I just didn’t trust that there was nothing wrong with my chest.

After listening to me describe everything that was going on and doing a few quick tests of his own, he decided that they would do a stress test and echo cardiogram on me. But first, that I need to go back to the ER as soon as possible and have another CT scan run because it was very likely that the ER had missed a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs).

So, I went back to the ER for a third time and I had a CT scan run for a second time. This time, I was told that there was no sign of a clot. But, that I did appear to have pneumonia.

Again I was angry. Why did it take a 2 chest x-rays and 2 CT scans to find this?

So, I was prescribed an aggressive antibiotic to fight the pneumonia. I took it all, went back to the hospital, had yet another chest x-ray, and was told my chest was clear and that I am now fine.

I’m not fine, though. My chest still hurts.

But at least now, I know better. I’m not letting up and I am no longer letting a doctor tell me that I am fine when I know that I am not. I am continuing to pursue answers to why my chest hurts and I am not going to rest.

It may have taken me a while, but now, I trust myself. Now, I listen to my body. I encourage everyone out there who might read this to do the same.

#covid #treatment #longhauler #voicesofthevirus #longcovid #medical #heart #lungs